Mumbai- The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Tuesday proposed simplifying the process for issuing duplicate securities certificates to investors who lose their original ones.
SEBI noted that the existing procedure is cumbersome, with companies and registrars often following inconsistent rules. Currently, investors must lodge a police complaint or FIR, publish a newspaper notice, and submit separate affidavits and indemnity bonds. A simplified process is available only when the value of the lost securities is below ₹5 lakh.
The regulator has now proposed increasing this threshold to ₹10 lakh, citing the growth in market capitalisation, investor participation, and portfolio sizes in recent years.
“To provide ease of investment and procedural convenience to the investors, it is proposed to increase the limits for simplified documentation for issuance of duplicate securities from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh,” SEBI said.
If the proposal is approved, investors holding securities worth up to ₹10 lakh will need to submit only a single combined affidavit-cum-indemnity bond, replacing the current requirement of two separate stamped documents.
SEBI stated: “If the value of securities as on the date of submission of application, along with complete documentation as prescribed by the Board does not exceed ₹10 lakhs, the security holder shall submit an Affidavit-cum-Indemnity bond as per the format prescribed by the Board, on a non-judicial stamp paper of appropriate value as prescribed by the Stamp Act of the state where the claimant resides.”
For claims exceeding ₹10 lakh, filing an FIR or similar police complaint will continue to be mandatory.
According to SEBI, the proposed changes aim to simplify procedures, reduce costs for investors, and safeguard the interests of those who still hold physical security certificates.
All duplicate certificates issued henceforth will be in dematerialised form, aligning with India’s broader push toward complete dematerialisation of securities.
With inputs from IANS